Q Magazine Atlanta | June 13, 2019

Q inform | inspire

Adult Swim

Atlanta Rainbow Trout teams up for LGBTQ water polo and swimming

Caught in the Act Aging While Gay Queer Titles on Our Summer Reading List

Slice of Beautiful, Messy Queer Pie

June 13, 2019

Atlanta Pride’s Diverse Dozen

Q News Queer Agenda Q Shots The Weekly Print Publication of Project Q Atlanta

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EDITOR’S NOTE Q Q MAGAZINE THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF PROJECT Q ATLANTA PUBLISHERS INITIAL MEDIA, LLC MIKE FLEMING PUBLISHER & EDITOR MIKE@THEQATL.COM MATT HENNIE PUBLISHER & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MATT@THEQATL.COM RICHARD CHERSKOV PUBLISHER & GENERAL MANAGER RICHARD@THEQATL.COM ADVERTISING SALES RUSS YOUNGBLOOD SENIOR SALES REPRESENTATIVE RUSS@THEQATL.COM ART DIRECTOR JOHN NAIL JOHN@THEQATL.COM

Splash DOWN Q dives in and wets its whistle on queer Atlanta’s epic summer

BALANCING BEING A CIS GAY basic bitch with being queer woke has become a pastime among some of my friends, who insist the struggle is real.

Conflicted over the disparity between corporate World Pride and largely ignored

LGBTQ injustices, of Madonna simultaneously appearing on the Pier in New York

and pricing most of her fans out of attendance, of loving rainbow bullshit and hating fair-weather allies, they celebrate the passing of their ignorance even as they lament the slow-death of their privilege and its trappings.

So does Rainbow Unicorn Glitter Ally Month rock,

or suck? Is it real, or an illusion? I say the answer is yes, and that’s it’s OK to embrace a bisected reality. Buy

PROJECT Q ATLANTA PATRICK SAUNDERS EDITOR PSAUNDERS@THEQATL.COM CONTRIBUTORS IAN ABER LAURA BACCUS GABRIELLE CLAIBORNE BUCK COOKE CHARLES E. DAVIS JON DEAN BILL DICKINSON JIM FARMER BRAD GIBSON JAMES L. HICKS BENTLEY HUDGINS TAMEEKA L. HUNTER HEATHER MALONEY ERIC PAULK KYLE ROSE JAMES PARKER SHEFFIELD VINCE SHIFFLETT ALEXANDRA TYLER VAVA VROOM NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA SALES@RIVENDELLMEDIA.COM 212-242-6863 LOCAL ADVERTISING SALES@THEQATL.COM 404-949-7071

cheap corporate acknowledgements of mainstream assimilation or don’t, but do recognize that it’s still progress, even if there’s still a long way to go.

Here at Q magazine and Project Q Atlanta, every MIKE FLEMING EDITOR & PUBLISHER

day is gay, and every month is Pride Month. We’re

happy to embrace change as we continue our mission highlighting LGBTQ issues, advancements, setbacks

and events, as well as queer Atlantans themselves making their way in a complicated world. Through it all, we just keep swimming.

Which reminds me, Q contributor James L. Hicks is back with another jaw-dropping portrait series on a local LGBTQ staple. This time, members of Atlanta Rainbow Trout swimming and water polo teams strike a pose alongside interviews of their captains, who welcome all comers to jump headlong into their pool.

Meanwhile, columnist Bill Dickinson was doing reps at the gym and got inspired to embrace his life as a mélange instead of a mess. Atlanta Pride stirs up a diverse stew of its own, and the Queer Agenda calendar hits the highlights of a busy time to be

LGBTQ in the ATL. We also visit the best of recent events in Q Shots and list the most hotly anticipated books of summer.

We wrap this week’s coverage in letters from readers — one takes umbrage with me

instead of his own aging issues, and another thinks growing up in general is hard. As Dickinson says in his column, it’s a lot, but somehow it all fits together.

So stop dragging your toe with worry and anticipation and come on in. The water’s fine. Check back with us for fresh content every day at theQatl.com, a new print edition every Thursday, and write me if so inclined at mike@theQatl.com.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE VOLUME 2 ISSUE 29 JUNE 13, 2019

JUST DO IT

Queer Agenda calendar of events

COVER

17 15

Serving Fish Atlanta Rainbow Trout Teams

10 QUEER THINGS

13 11

Book ’Em

29 All Tied Up

Summer’s best LGBTQ beach and pool reads NEWS

13

Diverse Dozen

31 Got Moxy?

Atlanta Pride names 2019 parade grand marshals

FEATURES

Q Voices Q News Queer Agenda Q Shots The Q 6

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8 11 15 29 38

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36 Just Peachy

Q

VOICES

Mixed Up, Not

Don’t go it alone. When shit happens, own it as a reality

F*#%D UP

‘All of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie’ I RECENTLY “SHAZAMED” A SONG BY SARA Bareilles that was not only extraordinarily sung but also

poignantly lyrical. I stopped between reps at the gym simply to be moved — and to identify with my own story of loss, love and life.

(not a truth), and choose to share it with a mentor, friend

or trusted peer. Only then can we begin to more fully accept ourselves.

Fear, shame, or promise should not be denied. Share it, cry it, yell it from the rooftops, and be free.

Trust your gut. If a relationship or friendship that you share with another feels unhealthy or hurtful, it likely is. Even if he or she is the only one, move on from that dependency.

Trust that you will find healthier, more loving relationships.

Free yourself from toxic family members. This one is

tougher, and I own my own bias. But, if a parent or family

member is shutting you out or not accepting your decisions,

I think the song is true for most people, but especially for

life choices or identity that is authentically yours, shake the

LGBTQ people in particular. I encourage you to

dust from your feet, and do not subject your-

listen or watch online Sara Bareilles’ “She Used to

selves to their conditions or beliefs.

Be Mine.”

I know of too many instances of a parent or

The lyrics inspire my premise that we are “all

family member rejecting or distancing them-

of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie.”

selves from their child or sibling for their

identity as LGBTQ. It’s unacceptable and

Ahhh, but what is “this”? Well, it is the stuff

shameful of them, it shows they can’t possi-

and shit of life! It is all that has shaped us,

betrayed us, exhilarated us and closeted us.

“This” is our bleeding hearts for love, it is

our pleading relationships for unconditional

BILL DICKINSON

acceptance, and it is our longing dignity to be all that we can be and more.

Yes, “this” is, and we are each, “all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie.”

If there is one LGBTQ virtue I have encountered and been

empowered by it is our courage. Brave women and men who have dared to be themselves in spite of fear and uncertainty

enced — unconditionally and abundantly. I

believe they need professional mental health

help for their own growth and freedom.

Make time for self-reflection. Make time for some self-reflection — indeed, some soul-searching. Identify two items that

are frustrating the hell out of you and make a plan to overcome or change them. It might be simply losing a few pounds, or

watching three TED Talk videos on the power of change. It

could be identifying a counselor to explore your commitment to

whether at home or at work.

improvement or a new mindset. Decide and commit.

And yes, as the song says, “sometimes life slips in through

My experience tells me that all of us — humanity — are all

want so much more. But dare I say, it is never, ever — not

Life is also bountiful and filled with possibility. We need

better mix of ourselves, all baked into a beautiful pie. I do

a beautiful pie”? Share a slice with others.

a back door,” and we’re not happy with who we are, or we

mixed up, but it doesn’t mean we’re fucked up! Life is hard.

for a moment — too late to regroup, honor and become a

each other, and when you think about it, “don’t you just love

believe you and all of us are beautiful.

So how do we do “this”? Through my own series of hard knocks and humble pie, I offer these suggestions.

8

bly know love as it is intended to be experi-

theQatl.com

Bill Dickinson is an LGBTQ Atlantan and executive coach.

He lives with his husband in Midtown. Reach him at Bill.Dickinson12@icloud.com.

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Must READ Your summer book list just got a whole lot queerer

W

By Mike Fleming hether you read at the beach, at the pool, in the backyard, in bed or in the bathtub, LGBTQ books and titles of queer interest are here to make the most of your lazy, hazy lounging time.

Real Queer America

by Samantha Allen

A transgender reporter’s narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states, offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America.

Love and Resistance: Out of the Closet into the Stonewall Era

by Jason Baumann et al More than one hundred vivid photographs of the LGBT revolution and its public and intimate moments in the 1960s and ’70s that lit a fire still burning today.

When Brooklyn Was Queer

by Hugh Ryan The never-before-told story of Brooklyn’s vibrant and forgotten queer history, from the mid-1850s up to the present day.

Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man

by Thomas Page McBee In this groundbreaking new book, the author, a trans man, trains to fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden while struggling to untangle the vexed relationship between masculinity and violence.

Tell Me How You Really Feel

by Aminah Mae Safi Sana, cheerleader and classic overachiever, is cast as the lead in Rachel Recht’s senior film project. The only problem?

Rachel has detested Sana ever since the other girl asked her out — and Rachel was sure it was a prank.

Liberation of Ivy Bottini: A Memoir of Love and Activism

by Judith Branzburg Colorful, charismatic, magnetic, and brilliant are just a few of the words used to describe a woman who was at the

10 QUEER THINGS Q forefront of the National Organization for Women (NOW) movement and the second wave of feminism before moving to L.A. and becoming a queer activist.

In the Deep End

by Kate Davies A deliciously disarming debut novel about a twenty-something Londoner who discovers that she may have been looking for love — and pleasure — in all the wrong places (i.e. from men).

Claiming the B in LGBT: Illuminating the Bisexual Narrative

by Kate Harrad et al Even as the broader LGBT community enjoys political and societal advances in North America, bisexuals still today contend with misinformation stereotyping them as innately indecisive, self-loathing, and untrustworthy.

We Contain Multitudes

by Sarah Henstra When Jonathan and Kurl are assigned to write letters to each other as a part of an English assignment, they never expect to fall in love.

But they do. They try to hold tight to each other even as bullying, homophobia and terrible secrets threaten to tear them apart.

Like a Love Story

By Abdi Nazemian In 1989 New York City, three teens struggle with life, relationships, and their perceptions of the world during the AIDS crisis.

Sources: bookauthority.org, bookriot.com

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NEWS Q

Out FRONT Meet your 12 Atlanta Pride parade grand marshals

A GROUP OF ACTIVISTS, POLITICIANS, FAITH LEADERS, artists and organizations have the honor of leading this year’s Atlanta Pride parade as grand marshals.

Atlanta Pride Committee made the announcement on June 3 as a slew of Stonewall Month events began.

“Our organization is proud of our effort and commitment to select

grand marshals from the wide range of diverse activists and community members among us,” said Jamie Fergerson, executive director of the Atlanta Pride Committee. “It is important to us that our slate of grand marshals represent all the varied and beautiful segments of our queer community and our allies.”

The parade is set for Oct. 13 during the 49th annual Atlanta Pride.

Here’s more about each grand marshal, via Atlanta Pride Committee:

Dr. Annise Mabry

Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts

Chanel Haley

Emily Halden Brown

Feroza Syed

Rev. Kimberly Jackson

Royce Mann

Latino LinQ

Raksha

Stacey Abrams

Stephanie Cho

Thrive SS

Read more about the grand marshals at theQatl.com. theQatl.com

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Q

THE QUEER AGENDA The Best Queer Things To Do in Atlanta This Week

Thursday, June 13 – Wednesday, June 19 FRIDAY, JUNE 14 Atlanta Braves LGBT Night

Pre-party and game play with Pride @ SunTrust Park, 5 p.m. atlantabraves.com, atlantapride.org 50 Years of Stonewall Double Feature

Official Stonewall Month events continue with

Living with Pride: Ruth C. Ellis at 100 and The Water-

melon Woman @ Out Front Theatre, 7 p.m. outonfilm.org, atlantapride.org

SATURDAY, JUNE 15 Atlanta Pride Run

LGBTQ runners step off in the annual race @ Piedmont Park, 8 a.m. frontrunnersatlanta.org

50 Years of Stonewall Triple Feature

The next installment of Out on Film’s

Stonewall tribute includes Save Me, Shelter

and Brother to Brother (photo) @ Out Front Theatre, 5 p.m. outonfilm.org

15th Annual Evening for Equality

Georgia Equality honors its heroes and raises funds in its ongoing fight for equality @ Loews Atlanta, 6 p.m. georgiaequality.org Naturally Tan

Tan France from Queer Eye wows the crowd @ Friends School of Atlanta friendsschoolatlanta.org

Stonewall 50 Concert & Panel

Atlanta Freedom Bands supersizes its Pride

Month offering this year @ Church at Ponce

& Highland, 6 p.m. atlantapride.org, atlantafreedombands.com Rainbow Pub Crawl

Drink with Pride at ten bars including My Sister’s Room, Zocalo and Ten. Step off from MSR, 7 p.m. mysistersroom.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 16 50 Years of Stonewall Triple Feature

Out on Film’s Stonewall slate continues with Rafiki, Pride and Saturday Church @ Out Front Theatre, 3 p.m. outonfilm.org

MONDAY, JUNE 17 Paris is Burning

Classics on the big screen during the Queers on Film Series @ Plaza Atlanta, 7 p.m. outonfilm.org

Find even more LGBTQ events in the Queer Agenda each Thursday at theQatl.com.

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COVER Q

Swim

Meet

Nicole Hughes

Get to know Atlanta Rainbow Trout as they close in on 25 years in the pool

T

By Patrick Saunders he birth of the Atlanta Rainbow Trout came with immediate accolades. Nine members of the LGBTQ swim club went to the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics Championship in Montreal in 1995 and returned to Atlanta with the trophy in the small team category.

Flash forward 24 years. The club has expanded to include water polo and triathlon teams in a roster bursting with over 100 active members. Q sat down with the directors of both the water polo and swim squads to talk about the opportunities the club provides for all LGBTQ and allied athletes of every skill level, and photographer James L. Hicks met some of the members at practice. The results appear on the following pages in stunning portraits, and keep an eye out for even more shots on our website at theQatl.com.

Shayne Lastinger joined Atlanta Rainbow Trout in 2016.

“I had just moved back to Atlanta and had a couple friends on the water polo team, and it seemed like a good option to meet people that enjoy playing in the water,” he told Q. “It was an opportunity to grow and meet more people.”

He later switched to the swim team, becoming director of that squad in 2018. In 2019, he became president of the entire club. 

PHOTOS BY JAMES L. HICKS jlhicksphotography.net theQatl.com

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Q

TROUT continued

(Front Row) Jon Valentine, Nicole Hughes, Eduardo Brites (Back) Pavan Ananth and John Roquet

Jon Valentine is director of the water polo team. He was also looking for social opportunities “beyond just the bar scene” when he joined the club in 2001. He ran into the water polo team’s founder, Sean Fitzgerald, who convinced him to come by the team’s practice the next day.

“I had a moderately strong swimming background,” Valentine said. “I’d swum summer league at a neighborhood pool growing up, but once I started playing, I came to appreciate and enjoy the physical demands and competitive nature of the sport as well as the strong social nature of the team.”

Evolution of the Trout The water polo squad underwent some early stumbles, Valentine recounts.

“When we began [in 1998], we were primarily a team of former swimmers with no water polo background who started learning the game on our first day of Trout water polo practice,” he said.

The team lost every game during the first few years of tournaments.

“However, we hung in there,” he said. “Fast forward to an international IGLA tournament in Sweden in 2015 where we took home the gold medal.”

The team now welcomes players of all levels — novice, intermediate and advanced.

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“The competitive level of the team ebbs and flows over the years, but we always strive to take a competitive team to every tournament,” Valentine said. “That being said, there’s always room for swimmers on our team who are brand new to water polo and would like to learn the sport.”

Water polo is also becoming more common at the high school and college levels in Georgia, which is leading to an influx for Rainbow Trout players post-graduation, according to Valentine.

“Also, since our team is known nationally as one that tries to find balance between competitive play and social interaction, we tend to welcome a lot of players from elsewhere who move to Atlanta for career opportunities,” he said. “Over the years, we’ve become a better team with a more diverse group of players from many different backgrounds.”

That diversity is reflected in members’ age, race, gender and LGBTQ-and-allied identification.

“All of this has made us a stronger, more competitive, and more socially engaging team,” Valentine said.

Lastinger agreed that Rainbow Trout has broadened its reach in recent years.

“With the more visibility as a team we’ve gotten over the last two or three years, it’s become adaptive to women who are straight, 

Greg Horstmeier

PHOTOS BY JAMES L. HICKS jlhicksphotography.net theQatl.com

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TROUT continued Q

Michelle Simard

PHOTOS BY JAMES L. HICKS

Photos

by Russ Youngblood jlhicksphotography.net

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Q

TROUT continued

Tam Vo

PHOTOS BY JAMES L. HICKS jlhicksphotography.net 24

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Photos by Russ Youngblood theQatl.com

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Q

TROUT continued but they enjoy swimming with a bunch of gay guys, or college kids at Georgia Tech who love the fun events we do,” he said. “We’ve become more inclusive of friends and allies.”

He echoed Valentine’s point about the club welcoming members of all skill levels.

“For the water polo team, as long as you know how to float, they can teach you how to play water polo. Same for swim,” Lastinger said. “Each of our coaches for our swim team have four levels of ability that they teach. We definitely make sure to cater to different levels of experience when it comes to being in the water.”

Home & Away Atlanta Rainbow Trout isn’t short on big competitions or dry-land events. The club just hosted one of its two biannual swim meets in May, and the other one is in December. The water polo team hosts its annual tournament in December as well.

Thomas Van Wemmel, Henry Griesbach, Andrew Sullivan

The club heads to New York City in June (just in time for World Pride and its Stonewall 50 celebrations) to compete in this year’s International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics tournament.

Back home in the ATL, the Trout have upcoming fundraiser beer busts, there’s a whitewater rafting trip in August, and they’ll continue their tradition of pizza and beer after practices on Fridays.

The Trout-curious can check out the club’s practices which take place throughout the year at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.

Right now, swimmers practice Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Water polo on Tuesday and Sunday.

You can also spot the club members on their outing to the annual

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Atlanta Braves Pride Night game on June 14 at SunTrust Park, as well as other group outings as they come up.

Ultimately, Atlanta Rainbow Trout has created opportunities for queer Atlantans way beyond the pool, said Valentine.

“My favorite thing about being on the team is that it fulfills so many of my personal goals and provides an exciting means for me to continue growing as a person and competing internationally in an exciting sport,” he said.

“It’s a huge part of these people’s lives,” Lastinger added.

Find Atlanta Rainbow Trout on Facebook and at atlantarainbowtrout.com.

PHOTOS BY JAMES L. HICKS jlhicksphotography.net theQatl.com

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OUT ON FILM AND ATLANTA PRIDE PRESENT

of LGBT Cinema FREE Film Series in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall

June 14th

June 15th

7pm – Living with Pride: Ruth C. Ellis at 100 9pm – The Watermelon Woman

5pm – Save Me 7pm – Brother to Brother 9pm – Shelter

June 16th

3pm – Saturday Church 5pm – Rafiki 7pm – Pride

At Out Front Theater 999 Brady Ave. NW Atlanta, Georgia

Coming This Summer...

Q 9

June 20, 201

Q

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ire | insp inform

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THE WED

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HEALTHY The latest issues — and advances — in queer healthcare

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Q

THEQ?!

AGING

While Q ueer

Judging everyone but yourself

Q

Wow. I just read your response to “Manboy,” and I’m incensed. He’s growing up while his friends remain stuck in the same old gay bar routines, but you told him not to judge them and not to “throw the friends out with the booty shorts.”

Gay Peter Pan syndrome is real, and people who go out all the time, drink too much and date anything that moves are what’s wrong with this community. If Manboy doesn’t get away, he’ll end up just like them — alone and sad.

You made his problem about him, when it’s clearly about the people in his life who need to get it together. They’re the ones that needed your help, and you left the real issue hanging.

Hey, Manboy, there are other real men out here who feel the way you do about those loser bar flies, and we’re here when you’re ready!

Dear Judge & Jury:

stuff while he deals with his. He raised concern over his own drinking and relationship history, and we offered a way toward change. The column also acknowledged that he might grow apart from his friends over time, but that there’s no reason to abruptly cut off meaningful relationships in an effort to solve his internal conflicts.

When Manboy cast a judgmental eye on his friends, at least it was with some love in the context of years of being good to each other.

You’re just being mean — to Manboy’s friends and to anyone who doesn’t fall into your narrow definition of “real man.”

Just like Manboy, though, the time you spend on what others could do to your liking is time missed addressing your own issues.

Each person’s problems are ultimately theirs alone to handle.

Nothing other people do, and everything we each face, is about us.

Looking at our own crap and learning not to judge others may be an even bigger sign of growing up than any of that other stuff.

Q

I’m 22, and it feels like everything was easier not that long ago. I work my ass off but don’t get paid accordingly. I am talking to several people, but I can’t find anyone to really love. I battle internal demons with nobody else in my corner. Being a grownup sucks.

We agree on one point: Wow. The stench of your superiority complex is overpowering.

We get it: hurt people hurt people.

That much sanctimony covers deep pain and a lack of self-awareness.

Maybe we struck a nerve because you saw your own life reflected in the premise. Since you either didn’t read the column closely, or worse, tortured yourself hand-picking the bits out of context that would infuriate you the most, let’s review.

The response was about Manboy because he was the one asking the question. If someone wrote Q for help as a victim of Gay Peter Pan Syndrome, that’s who our response would address. There was no indication that any of his friends felt “alone and sad.”

We advised Manboy to let other people deal with their own 38

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Dear Adulting:

you’re in good company.

Every person you know has shared every one of your concerns at some point. It’s not easy being anybody in this world, so at least

Your childhood doesn’t seem that long ago because it wasn’t. Time will help as long as you keep moving forward.

The bad news is that it gets harder. The good news is that you get way better at it. Keep your eyes open, keep moving forward, and keep your good friends close.

The Q is for entertainment purposes and not professional counseling.

Send your burning Qs to mike@theqatl.com.

ILLUSTRATION BY BRAD GIBSON